Close by the Kokufu bonsai exhibit is the Green Club, home to a massive bonsai vendor area set up to accompany the event. Inside, some spectacular trees are for sale, including the shimpaku below. What makes for good shimpaku bonsai? In addition to age, character, and beauty – general qualities that apply to all bonsai […]
Excursions
Excursion posts feature visits to bonsai gardens in the U.S. and in Japan, visits to the Kyoto's Most Renown Gardens, and trips into the mountains to see junipers and pines in their natural setting.
Shinpukuji Temple bonsai museum
The bonsai museum at Shinpukuji Temple near Okazaki has many outstanding trees. Visiting is like attending a mini exhibit, but an exhibit of Kokufu quality. Many of the trees in the garden have appeared in Kokufu, and several have won awards. Here is a selection of the trees that were on display during Boon’s visit […]
Bonsai museum at Shinpukuji Temple
Adjacent to the Shimpukuji Temple in Okazaki, one can visit a very fine bonsai museum. A rotating selection of trees fills both indoor and outdoor displays. When the ume bloom, they fill the indoor display area. I like ume because they capture some very important aspects of bonsai. The bark shows great age. The flowers, […]
Aichi-en bonsai nursery
Bonsai professionals in Japan commonly follow one of two paths – they can become bonsai sellers or bonsai creators. The proprietor of Aichi-en Bonsai Nursery in Nagoya belongs to the latter group. Junichiro Tanaka is a fourth generation bonsai professional. His great-grandfather Sukijiro started the nursery at 17 years old by making the bold move […]
Visit to Daiju-en
Boon Manakitivipart’s trip to Japan this past winter included a visit to Daiju-en – one of the more amazing pine gardens in Japan. The garden is managed, today, by Tohru Suzuki. Here are some of the stand-out trees. Daiju-en (Bob King photo) Kuromatsu Goyomatsu Shimpaku Kuromatsu – “Fudo” (Bob King photo) Goyomatsu (Bob King photo) Kuromatsu (Bob King […]